Crypto Retirement: US Investment Firm Launches Employer-Sponsored Bitcoin 401(k) Plan

 

The U.S.-based company Digital Asset Investment Management (Daim) has announced the launch of a company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan that allocates up to 10% in bitcoin. The plan is an ERISA compliant employer-sponsored 401(k) and assets are held in institutional-grade cold storage by leveraging the custodian Gemini Trust.

During the last few years, investors have been able to leverage a digital currency retirement plan in the form of an IRA. For instance, the company Bitcoinira helps people invest in cryptocurrencies like BTC, BCH, ETH, and LTC with the firm’s cryptocurrency-focused retirement funds. On Thursday, November 19, 2020, the Newport Beach California-based company Digital Asset Investment Management (Daim) revealed an ERISA compliant employer-sponsored bitcoin 401(k) plan that involves an allocation of BTC.

“From the moment we were approved by the State of California in June 2018, we’ve seen incredible inbound demand from individuals eager to invest bitcoin in 401(k)s,” Adam Pokornicky, COO of Daim said during the launch. “Conventional 401(k) plans are restrictive and often lack investment options, causing participants to not only be frustrated but have poor risk-adjusted returns that barely keep up with the rate of inflation.”

“This is a bad deal for savers given the current environment. We believe bitcoin has demonstrated it has a place in the modern portfolio and individuals should have an opportunity to “Get Off Zero” and invest directly through their retirement account,” the Daim executive added.

According to Daim, the firm will be the 3(38) advisor and fiduciary and it will assist companies who want to offer the 401(k). The plans have traditional assets alongside up to a 10% allocation in bitcoin (BTC). “Bitcoin will be held securely in institutional cold storage custody with Gemini Trust, our partner for our primary investment advisory services. The California firm also explains what happens when an employee leaves a company offering the bitcoin 401(k) plan.

Daim states:

Should the employee leave their company their Bitcoin will be able to transfer with them. And should an individual want to allocate more to Bitcoin, they can schedule an investment consultation with Daim.

Pokornicky also notes that Daim executed an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan back in October 2019 and has been testing for 12 months. Daim is now allowed to launch “scalable 401(k) plans that provide recordkeeping and administrative services.” “[Daim is] excited to lend our fiduciary capacity to enable access to Bitcoin in 401(k) plans in this way,” Pokornicky shared.

Other companies that offer bitcoin-related retirement services besides Daim and Bitcoinira include Bitira, Coinira, and Regal Assets. While the digital asset ecosystem continues to grow concepts like retirement services have tapped into the swelling crypto economy.

401(k) plans give employees tax advantages and the U.S. Internal Revenue Code allows 401(k) or IRAs. With digital currency prices posting massive gains in recent days, a bitcoin-based 401(k) may prove to have a much larger retirement yield.